77

52

76.0

79.6

78.8

.603

.622

96.4%

3.4%

99.8%

0.0%

0.2%

Yu Darvish has essentially been adequate for Texas, but he's spun some gems on the way to that adequacy. Twenty-one swinging strikes in seven innings can't be explained solely by "but it was the Rays!"

2

75

54

74.8

76.0

77.0

.587

.606

95.1%

4.2%

99.3%

0.4%

-0.3%

Derek Jeter has a .363 OBP at the age of 38. Yes, he gives back breathtaking amounts of value on defense, but my gosh, what a baseball player.

3

70

59

72.5

71.1

72.4

.554

.574

3.5%

48.1%

51.6%

-9.4%

-27.8%

Sam Fuld singled three times and stole a base after replacing Matt Joyce. Maybe if he'd started, the Rays wouldn't have lost 1-0.

4

77

51

74.5

75.5

73.9

.588

.568

79.0%

20.2%

99.2%

-0.5%

-0.8%

There were six shutouts last night, which is a pretty high number. It was also Strasmas. These two items are not as correlated as you'd think they are because Strasburg gave up seven runs in five innings.

5

71

57

71.1

67.7

67.3

.541

.561

64.1%

19.1%

83.2%

-1.8%

-0.6%

Chris Sale won't win the Cy Young by giving up four runs in four innings. Well, he won't either way (there's this guy, Felix something?), but still: he should try harder.

6

71

58

76.8

77.0

74.5

.580

.560

4.0%

73.8%

77.8%

-6.3%

15.8%

The bright side of being shut out by the Pirates is that it's not as embarrassing as it once was to be shut out by the Pirates.

7

69

59

67.2

69.3

70.2

.539

.558

35.9%

32.8%

68.7%

-7.0%

-1.7%

Justin Verlander gave up eight runs but somehow managed to pass the loss off on his bullpen. What a shirker.

8

71

57

69.4

66.7

67.2

.536

.556

3.3%

47.7%

51.0%

9.8%

24.2%

You can look up for your own self how long he's been on the team, but Stephen Drew has a .379 OBP for the A's. It'll be interesting to see which side declines his mutual option this offseason.

9

67

62

67.1

70.2

71.2

.534

.554

0.3%

20.1%

20.4%

0.2%

-4.9%

Mike Trout singled home the tying run in the bottom of the ninth ahead of Torii Hunter's game-winning sacrifice fly. He also had a 445-foot homer in the first inning. So, you know, yawn.

10

74

56

74.7

72.9

72.9

.566

.547

21.0%

72.7%

93.7%

1.8%

10.4%

End-of-game ERAs of the two pitchers who threw for Atlanta last night: 1.71 and 1.13. I thought Leo Mazzone retired.

11

79

52

73.9

71.9

70.2

.563

.543

95.3%

4.4%

99.7%

-0.3%

0.6%

Johnny Cueto's really got a shot at this Cy Young, doesn't he?

12

62

68

68.2

69.9

70.5

.520

.540

0.0%

0.1%

0.1%

0.0%

-1.9%

At least Pedro Ciriaco wasn't DHing last night. That was embarrassing.

13

72

57

68.2

67.8

67.2

.533

.513

85.4%

2.2%

87.6%

6.2%

14.2%

I got to see Matt Cain in person in last week. That's ... I don't really have a point.

14

63

67

65.8

62.4

63.7

.490

.510

0.0%

0.1%

0.1%

0.1%

-0.1%

Tom "Kaiser" Wilhelmsen has 20 "saves" despite being saddled with that nickname.

71

57

59.9

56.7

58.5

.481

.501

1.4%

24.4%

25.8%

7.7%

12.9%

69

61

68.0

66.9

66.5

.520

.500

13.8%

8.0%

21.8%

-6.5%

-14.6%

When the Dodgers acquire every player and lose to the Rockies anyway, I call them "Los Doyers" in a really obnoxious voice. The cats have become Dodger fans.

17

69

60

66.6

66.1

64.4

.516

.496

0.7%

18.5%

19.2%

6.5%

-15.5%

Did you know that Pedro Alvarez is slugging .484 and has 25 homers? It took a while and he's not what he should have been, but for $700,000, the Pirates will take an above-average player at third.

18

64

66

67.9

66.8

66.3

.510

.490

0.8%

0.2%

1.0%

-0.9%

-10.0%

Shouldn't the Diamondbacks have a cooler logo by now? It's 2012.

19

57

71

60.3

58.3

59.8

.460

.480

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Congratulations to Adeiny Hechevarria on his first big-league homer. I'm looking forward to all seven he has left.

20

61

67

65.1

64.9

62.4

.495

.475

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.1%

Jeff Bianchi was a prospect back in 2005, but now he's a guy who hit his first career homer in an August game against the 49-78 Cubs. Well, 49-79 Cubs now, thanks in no small part to that homer. So that's something, I guess.

21

61

68

61.5

64.5

64.6

.487

.467

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

B.J. Rosenberg is apparently a real hurler of baseballs on the Philadelphias. For now, anyway. The 12.66 ERA might have something to say about the long-term prospects of the proposition.

60

69

60.7

64.7

65.9

.487

.467

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

57

71

58.4

56.2

56.0

.444

.464

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Even Mike Trout simply tips his cap at Alex Gordon's league-leading 44 doubles. Do you know how many doubles that is? Here's how many: 44.

24

60

71

59.5

60.9

59.7

.458

.438

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Four Padres pitchers threw last night. I do not know the first names of any of them: Werner, Vincent, Layne, Burns. August baseball!

25

52

77

53.1

55.2

55.5

.418

.438

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Kyle Waldrop, who threw the eighth for the Twins last night, is actually a NASCAR driver in disguise, right?

26

55

74

50.0

55.0

55.5

.418

.437

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

My favorite pitching line is the one where the guy strikes everybody out but still gets destroyed. Zach McAllister had eight whiffs in 4 1/3 innings, but gave up nine hits, three walks, and two homers. He just likes numbers, I guess.

27

59

71

55.4

56.6

57.1

.439

.419

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Justin Ruggiano went 4-4 with a walk and is now slugging .606. A famous philosopher once said, "Honest joy in the success of others is the highest human achievement."

28

53

75

54.9

52.2

52.1

.415

.395

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Brown and Rutledge were in the Colorado lineup last night. Brown and Rutledge were also Supreme Court justices, the former of which authored Plessy v. Ferguson.

29

49

79

51.9

49.1

49.4

.390

.371

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Travis Wood threw a quality start and hit a homer. And lost. Mainly because only two other Cubs got a hit.

30

40

89

44.9

44.9

45.0

.339

.321

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Don't look now but Brett Wallace is hitting .292/.363/.492. No, really, if you look, you'll turn to stone.

Jason Wojciechowski is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Click here to see Jason's other articles.
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